Isn't It Wonderful? However many Final Fantasy Magic: The Gathering cards they release, it’ll never be enough I wonder how the people behind the aggressively-mid FF Trading Card Game from Square Enix must be feeling. Image credit: VG247 Article by Alex Donaldson Assistant Editor Published on May 14, 2025 I can seldom think of a transmedia cross-over more appropriate than the emergence of Magic: The Gathering X Final Fantasy, an imminent expansion to the beloved card collecting and battling tabletop title that brings the worlds of Final Fantasy into Magic’s mechanics. Fans are still eagerly waiting to get their hands on the sets, but over the course of the last several days Wizards of the Coast has steadily begun revealing more and more of the contents of the expansion. This is all a hearty promotional exercise, but it practically isn’t needed: so eager are the fans and so perfect is this cross-over conceptually that FF is already the best-selling Magic set in history. To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Nevertheless, people are thrilled to see the cards that’ll be emerging from booster packs in June - learning in turn which characters, locations, and classic FF iconography will make the cut. Seeing this, and myself being one of the people excitingly tabbing through reveals despite already having pre-orders running into the hundreds in place, I’ve realized one thing: no matter how many cards this set encompasses, it’ll never be enough. Wizards of the Coast has opened a proverbial Pandora's Box. Final Fantasy is rich, wide, and its predilection for throwing everything out and starting over for each numbered entry means that it is far too deep to be summarized in just a few hundred cards. Already, I can see the discourse shifting among fans. Some hope for more cards from 12, or from the less immediately iconic NES classics. People with love and light in their hearts hope Final Fantasy 9 is particularly well-represented. A curious paradigm has emerged in the nature of the FF expansion, which is simply put that there are four games that are particularly well-represented. Final Fantasies 6, 7, 10, and 14 are all featured as the games driving the four ‘Commander Decks’ that make up a major component of the release. Commander is a unique MTG format that supports larger decks, and has formed a major part of most spin-off ‘universes beyond’ sets so far. But for FF, these four decks end up feeling strangely insufficient. Suteki da ne? | Image credit: Wizards of the Coast With Fallout, for instance, four commander decks did indeed feel sufficient. Two decks channeled Fallout 4 and Fallout 3, offering different gameplay styles that evoked the themes of each game. A third was all about New Vegas, and the final set revered the original two CRPGs. Broadly speaking, the whole series was represented. Wizards of the Coast has obviously chosen carefully for FF. You have the most beloved 2D FF, the most important 3D FF, and the on-going concern MMO with a huge fanbase. And 10, which is wildly beloved. I respect it - but I also begrudgingly look at this release slate and conclude Wizards of the Coast is going to leave this expansion with unfinished business as far as Final Fantasy goes. While every other FF is represented in the general boosters and the general set of cards, the sprawling nature of Commander Decks means that the four FFs that have a Commander Deck themed around them naturally have a huge advantage - their characters, stories, and worlds are far more heavily represented than the others. Every Cloud... | Image credit: Wizards of the Coast Part of the problem is of WOTC’s own making, of course. This is such a fabulous synergistic fit, the card art and game design so carefully and wonderfully crafted, that fans can’t resist. This is clearly no cash-in, it’s a damn good product. People want more good stuff! Who knew? But the door is now open - people are going to want more of this. Rabid FF fans are going to want more of this. These people won’t be satisfied with this one expansion. Certainly, if you consider raising the representation level across the numbered series and fold in a few spin-offs, there is ample scope for a second FF expansion. And with this first drop already set to be its best-ever selling expansion pack, WOTC should be well-minded to deliver that, in time. For now, I await my pre-order and further card reveals, praying for better FF9 representation than we’ve seen so far, and also hoping that the generally maligned 13 and 15 don’t get completely shafted. And I wonder how the people behind the aggressively-mid FF Trading Card Game from Square Enix must be feeling. Those poor guys.

Ubisoft moving "some of our biggest productions" into 2026 and 2027 after positive impact of Assassin's Creed Shadows delay "To create the best conditions for success." Image credit: Ubisoft News by Tom Phillips Editor-in-Chief Published on May 14, 2025 Ubisoft says it has postponed several of its "biggest productions" currently in development in order to grant them more time in the oven, after previously delaying Assassin's Creed Shadows in order to provide further polish. Exactly which games these are was not named by Ubisoft during its financial results broadcast today, though in an investor call listened to by Eurogamer, Ubisoft boss Yves Guillemot suggested the impacted titles came from the publisher's top five brands - Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, Rainbow Six, The Division and Ghost Recon. Guillemot said Shadows' delay had been a "good decision to deliver a really strong quality" and that the delayed projects would now launch beyond the current financial year ending 31st March 2026, in either the following year ending March 2027, or the year after ending March 2028. "After a review of our pipeline, we have decided to provide additional development time to some of our biggest productions in order to create the best conditions for success," Guillemot said today in a statement. "As a consequence, FY2026-27 and FY2027-28 will see significant content coming from our largest brands." What's coming this year then? Ubisoft lists Anno 117: Pax Romana, its long-delayed Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time remake, Rainbow Six Mobile and The Division spin-off Resurgence, as well as "other titles" to be announced at a later stage. Assassin's Creed Shadows will get is first major expansion later this year, while Rainbow Six Siege gets its big X update in June. (There's no mention at all of Beyond Good & Evil 2.) Elsewhere, Ubisoft has commented further on Assassin's Creed Shadows' launch, its plans for a new subsidary backed by Chinese publisher Tencent, and ongoing push to cut costs and headcount. The company's latest financial results show it earned a "slightly below objective" €1.85bn (£1.56m) for the year ending 31st March, a miss it blamed on "lower than expected partnerships, notably due to a timing impact". Of course, Ubisoft's biggest launch of the year was Assassin's Creed Shadows, which finally arrived in March after a notable delay from last year. Ubisoft avoided providing a new sales figure for the game today, though said its financial performance "reaffirms the strength and resilience" of the brand. As previously announced, Shadows had the second-highest day one sales revenue for the series - behind the lockdown-era launch of Valhalla. Today, Ubisoft said Shadows had now recorded 160m gameplay hours across all players to date. How many players? Ubisoft isn't saying, and hasn't provided a fresh figure since the game passed 3 million players a week after launch. The Assassin's Creed brand as a whole had "around 30 million unique players" for the fourth consecutive year, Ubisoft said, the same as Rainbow Six. Ubisoft's third pillar, Far Cry, had "around 20 million" meanwhile. On Ubisoft's continued mission to cut costs - and employees - the company said it had succeeded in trimming €200m from its fixed costs ahead of time, with a lowered headcount now at 17,782 people. That's a decrease of 3000 people from September 2022, due to layoffs and reduced recruitment. Over the next two years, Ubisoft is now aiming to cut a further €100m, Guillemot said. "This year has been a challenging one for Ubisoft, with mixed dynamics across our portfolio, amid intense industry competition," Guillemot continued. "Despite these headwinds, Ubisoft managed to deliver positive free cash flow generation over the fiscal year, reflecting the discipline applied across the Group. "Aware of the challenges ahead, we took decisive steps to continue strengthening the company's future," Guillemot continued. "The launch of Assassin's Creed Shadows was a defining moment. It reaffirmed the power of the Assassin's Creed brand, with a highly favorable community response from long-time fans and new players alike. We also completed our initial cost savings program ahead of schedule. We are committed to going further, with additional savings of at least €100m over the next two years to drive structural efficiencies and reinforce the foundations of our organisation." Further details of Ubisoft's plan to launch a new subsidiary with Tencent that will house the company's biggest three brands - Assassin's Creed, Rainbow Six and Far Cry - will be laid out later this year, Ubisoft said. That said, Ubisoft said today that this new group will focus on "improving the quality of narrative-driven solo experiences", "expanding live service offerings with richer multiplayer features and more frequent content updates", and targeting "underpenetrated markets such as mobile and China". And in other news, Ubisoft's film and television division has announced a Riders Republic movie, with Bad Boys for Life directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah signed up to work on the project.

May 13, 20255 min readVenus Isn’t (Geologically) DeadA reappraisal of decades-old data suggests that strange circular formations on Venus could be volcanic “rings of fire” created by ongoing geological activityBy Elise Cutts edited by Lee BillingsThe northern hemisphere of Venus, as captured in radar data from NASA’s Magellan spacecraft. Some of the circular features seen in this image are coronae, mysterious formations that recent studies suggest could be sites of ongoing geological activity. NASA/JPL-CaltechEarth’s geology is downright vital. Here, giant “plates” of the crust rift apart and smash together like pieces of an ever changing planetary jigsaw puzzle. Mountains rise, volcanoes spew, and Earth itself quakes as the crust constantly remakes itself in the ceaseless cycle of plate tectonics. This is a process that controls the flow of carbon through our planet and stabilizes its climate; were it not for plate tectonics, Earth might not be habitable at all.No other rocky world in our solar system has anything approaching Earth’s degree of geological activity. At least, that’s what scientists used to think. Mercury, Mars and the moon appear essentially inert. But Venus, our closest neighbor and the only other large rocky world around the sun, is now starting to look far livelier than once thought. A fresh look at decades-old data from NASA’s Magellan probe has found evidence of active tectonics—around dozens of circular volcanic features called coronae—on Venus today. The finding, published on Wednesday in Science Advances, provides some of the best evidence to date that Venus isn’t dead—at least, not when it comes to tectonics.“Venus works differently than the Earth but not as different as what was originally assumed,” says the study’s co-lead author Anna Gülcher of the University of Bern in Switzerland. “We should think of tectonics as not just a black-and-white picture.”On supporting science journalismIf you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.“Questions as fundamental as ‘Is Venus alive today?’ are extremely hard to answer,” says planetary scientist Paul Byrne of the University of Washington in St. Louis, who wasn’t involved in the study. This new evidence of geological activity around the coronae suggests “the heart of Venus still beats today. I think that’s extremely invaluable for us to understand the big, rocky world next door.”Venus is called “Earth’s evil twin” for good reason: the planet is almost exactly as large as the Earth and is made of roughly the same stuff. But while Earth is a verdant water world, Venus is a scorched hellscape with temperatures hot enough to melt lead, a dreary, permanently overcast sky and air so thick that it crushes spacecraft as if they were tin cans.For a while, Venus was widely assumed to be just as dead on the inside as it is on the outside. Lacking any obvious plate tectonics—which can help release a world’s internal heat—Venus’s interior was thought to instead just simmer like the contents of a tight-lidded pot on a stove. According to one popular hypothesis, the pot had eventually boiled over: after eons of frustrated heating, some 800 million years ago, the planet’s outer shell buckled, and Venus’s entire surface was paved over with immense outpourings of fresh lava. And, the thinking went, with all that heat dissipated, the planet’s geology basically shut down.But evidence is mounting that Venus is, geologically at least, still kicking. Most notably, in 2023 two researchers scrutinizing 30-year-old Magellan data realized that the probe had caught a volcanic eruption in the act: radar images of the volcano Maat Mons that were taken months apart showed what looked like a caldera collapse and subsequent lava flow. Venus, it seems, still has active volcanoes. Some researchers now think it could have active tectonics, too. And in 2020 Gülcher and her colleagues showed via simulations of Venusian tectonics that the planet’s mysterious, ring-shaped coronae could be a good place to look for such activity.Tectonics refers to the processes that deform a rocky planet’s brittle outer shell. On Earth, this outer shell—the lithosphere, which includes the crust and part of the upper mantle—is broken into tectonic plates that drift over the hot, plastic mantle. When two plates collide, one of them can slide below the other and dive down into the mantle in a process called subduction. On Earth, subducting plates start melting as they sink, feeding volcanoes along plate boundaries. Such volcanoes include Japan’s Mount Fuji and western North America’s Cascade Range.Unlike Earth, Venus doesn’t have global plate tectonics. The new study suggests, however, that around coronae, something quite similar to subduction could be happening.Gülcher and her colleagues simulated several tectonic processes that might be occurring around coronae and compared their predictions to real observations collected by the Magellan probe 30 years ago. The comparisons were more than skin-deep: the researchers used gravity data to take a peek underground. Hot rock is generally less dense than cold rock, and these density variations from place to place can correspondingly alter the strength of a planet’s gravitational field. So Magellan’s spatial mapping of Venus’s gravity can “see” if there’s hot, light material under a corona—a sign that rock is actively rising up from the mantle below.Of the 75 coronae that the team could resolve in Magellan’s gravitational maps, 52 seem to be geologically active. The predicted and real data lined up so well for some coronae that “we could hardly believe our eyes,” says the study’s other co-lead author Gael Cascioli of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Most of the active coronae were encircled by trenches, a hint that old crust dives into Venus’s mantle around these rocky rings, where it is driven downward as buoyant rock rises from below in the middle of each corona’s ring structure. “Basically, if something goes down, something goes up,” Gülcher says. Where the lithosphere is softer and more pliable, bits of it could break off and “drip” down into the mantle in globs. In places where the lithosphere is stiffer, entire slabs of crust could subduct in a small-scale, circular mirror of Earth’s subduction zones, like those that form the Pacific Ocean’s famed volcanic Ring of Fire.Working with 30-year-old data comes with an obvious limitation: the data quality often isn’t very good compared with newer observations. The new study’s researchers did well with what they had, Byrne says. But NASA’s upcoming VERITAS (Venus Emissivity, Radio Science, InSAR, Topography, and Spectroscopy) mission could do much better—and the team predicted exactly how much better in the paper. “The improvement would be extraordinary,” Cascioli says. Instead of being limited to analyzing 75 coronae, VERITAS’s gravity dataset should allow scientists to examine hundreds of the strange ring-shaped features.For the foreseeable future, Venus is the only other large, rocky world that we or our robotic emissaries will ever reach. Understanding why Earth and Venus ended up so different despite having so much in common helps us understand our own planet—and whether the rocky worlds we’re beginning to glimpse around other stars are more like Earth or instead resemble its evil twin.“Venus is the world that we probably understand least,” Byrne says. “Yet it’s the one, arguably, I think, that’s the most important.”

This is today's edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what's going on in the world of technology. Why climate researchers are taking the temperature of mountain snow The Sierra’s frozen reservoir provides about a third of California’s water and most of what comes out of the faucets, shower heads, and sprinklers in the towns and cities of northwestern Nevada. As it melts through the spring and summer, dam operators, water agencies, and communities have to manage the flow of billions of gallons of runoff, storing up enough to get through the dry summer months without allowing reservoirs and canals to flood. The need for better snowpack temperature data has become increasingly critical for predicting when the water will flow down the mountains, as climate change fuels hotter weather, melts snow faster, and drives rapid swings between very wet and very dry periods. In the past, it was hard work to gather this data. Now, a new generation of tools, techniques, and models promises to ease that process, improve water forecasts, and help California and other states manage in the face of increasingly severe droughts and flooding. However, observers fear that any such advances could be undercut by the Trump administration’s cutbacks across federal agencies.Read the full story. —James Temple MIT Technology Review Narrated: What’s next for our privacy? The US still has no federal privacy law. But recent enforcement actions against data brokers may offer some new protections for Americans’ personal information. This is our latest story to be turned into a MIT Technology Review Narrated podcast, which we’re publishing each week on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Just navigate to MIT Technology Review Narrated on either platform, and follow us to get all our new content as it’s released. The must-reads I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology. 1 The US is warning other countries not to use Huawei’s chips If they do, they may face criminal penalties for breaching US export controls. (FT $)+ The Trump administration has axed the ‘AI Diffusion Rule’ for chips. (WSJ $)+ It may move towards negotiating deals with countries directly. (Bloomberg $) 2 US tech firms are inking AI deals with the Middle EastAmong the biggest of which is Nvidia. (The Guardian) + Tech leaders accompanied Trump on his trip. (WP $)3 A new treatment for inherited breast cancer was trialed successfully The drug olaparib can help to significantly improve survival rates. (BBC)4 TikTok workers fear a new messaging feature could be exploited But the company is pressing ahead with it anyway. (The Information $)5 Apple is working on brain-computer interfaces for its products People with brain implants could one day use them to control their devices. (WSJ $)+ Brain-computer interfaces face a critical test. (MIT Technology Review) 6 What’s next for NASA? The agency is poised for its most radical shakeup in decades. (Ars Technica)+ NASA has made an air traffic control system for drones. (MIT Technology Review)7 Finland is harvesting heat from its data centersBloomberg $) + The next data center hub? India. (FT $)+ These four charts sum up the state of AI and energy. (MIT Technology Review)8 Airbnb wants to become the next everything-appWired $) + Hotel-like services, anyone? (NYT $)+ Its host features have been overhauled, too. (The Verge)9 The FBI is buying new tech to help it see through wallsThanks to radar. (New Scientist $) 10 Baidu is planning to launch its robotaxis in Europe 🚗 In a bid to extend its competitive advantage overseas. (WSJ $)+ How Wayve’s driverless cars will meet one of their biggest challenges yet. (MIT Technology Review) Quote of the day “It's literally Einstein's proverbial definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.” —Entrepreneur Arnaud Bertrand reflects on America’s latest attempt to rein in Huawei in a post on X. One more thing How DeepSeek ripped up the AI playbook—and why everyone’s going to follow its lead When the Chinese firm DeepSeek dropped a large language model called R1 at the start of this year, it sent shock waves through the US tech industry. Not only did R1 match the best of the homegrown competition, it was built for a fraction of the cost—and given away for free. DeepSeek has now suddenly become the company to beat. What exactly did it do to rattle the tech world so fully? Is the hype justified? And what can we learn from the buzz about what’s coming next? Here’s what you need to know.   —Will Douglas Heaven We can still have nice things A place for comfort, fun and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line or skeet 'em at me.)+ Happy birthday to the one, the only Stevie Wonder—75 years young this week.+ A scooped bagel? Not on my watch. 🥯+ A few tips on how to navigate some of life’s trickier conversations with ease.+ Everyone’s got a random junk drawer. Here’s how to get it under control.

May 14, 2025Ravie LakshmananVulnerability / Malware Samsung has released software updates to address a critical security flaw in MagicINFO 9 Server that has been actively exploited in the wild. The vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2025-4632 (CVSS score: 9.8), has been described as a path traversal flaw. "Improper limitation of a pathname to a restricted directory vulnerability in Samsung MagicINFO 9 Server version before 21.1052 allows attackers to write arbitrary files as system authority," according to an advisory for the flaw. It's worth noting that CVE-2025-4632 is a patch bypass for CVE-2024-7399, another path traversal flaw in the same product that was patched by Samsung in August 2024. CVE-2025-4632 has since been exploited in the wild shortly after the release of a proof-of-concept (PoC) by SSD Disclosure on April 30, 2025, in some instances to even deploy the Mirai botnet. While it was initially assumed that the attacks were targeting CVE-2024-7399, cybersecurity company Huntress first revealed the existence of an unpatched vulnerability last week after finding signs of exploitation even on MagicINFO 9 Server instances running the latest version (21.1050). In a follow-up report published on May 9, Huntress revealed that three separate incidents that involved the exploitation of CVE-2025-4632, with unidentified actors running an identical set of commands to download additional payloads like "srvany.exe" and "services.exe" on two hosts and executing reconnaissance commands on the third. Users of the Samsung MagicINFO 9 Server are recommended to apply the latest fixes as soon as possible to safeguard against potential threats. "We have verified that MagicINFO 9 21.1052.0 does mitigate the original issue raised in CVE-2025-4632," Jamie Levy, director of adversary tactics at Huntress, told The Hacker News. "Any machine that has versions v8 - v9 21.1050.0 will still be affected by this vulnerability. We've also discovered that upgrading from MagicINFO v8 to v9 21.1052.0 is not as straightforward since you have to first upgrade to 21.1050.0 before applying the final patch." Found this article interesting? Follow us on Twitter  and LinkedIn to read more exclusive content we post. SHARE    

SoundCloud has altered its platform policies to require opt-ins for training generative AI models with artists' music following widespread user backlash, the company announced today in a letter from its CEO.On Friday, Futurism broke the story that SoundCloud had quietly updated its Terms of Use (TOU) in February 2024 with language allowing it to train AI using users' uploaded content, which could include uploaded music.The updated terms — which were flagged by users on Bluesky and X (formerly-Twitter) — included some exceptions to account for music and other content licensed under third parties. But the AI provision was overall extremely broad, and could feasibly grant the music-sharing site the right to funnel much of its vast content library into generative AI models as training material, whether now or in the future.Though the change was made back in February 2024, it seemed like site users were largely unaware of the change. Artists responded with rage and frustration, taking to social media to express their anger at the company and, in many cases, claiming they'd deleted and scrubbed their accounts.In response to the mess, SoundCloud issued a lengthy statement clarifying that, despite the provision's sweeping language, it hadn't used artists' music to train AI models. That included generative AI tools like large language models (LLMs) and music generation tools, according to SoundCloud.Now, it looks like SoundCloud is doubling down on those promises — and changing its policies.In the letter released today, SoundCloud CEO Eliah Seton conceded that SoundCloud's language around AI training was "too broad." To rectify that, said Seton, the company revised its user terms, which now bar SoundCloud from using artists' music to "train generative AI models that aim to replicate or synthesize your voice, music, or likeness" without the explicit consent of artists.The new clause adds that should SoundCloud seek to use its artists' music to train generative AI, it would have to earn that consent through opt-in mechanisms — as opposed to opt-outs, which are notoriously slippery.Seton also reiterated SoundCloud's commitment to blocking third parties from scraping SoundCloud for AI training data, and characterized the changes as a "formal commitment that any use of AI on SoundCloud will be based on consent, transparency, and artist control."According to Seton, the initial AI policy change was a reflection of SoundCloud's internal use of AI for features like music discovery algorithms and Pro features, fraud detection, customer service, and platform personalization, among other features. SoundCloud also uses AI to target opted-in users with advertisements based on their perceived mood. It also allows users to upload AI-generated music, and boasts a slew of partnerships with platform-integrated AI music and generation tools.If there's any moral here, it's that language matters, as do the voices of the artists who power creative platforms — especially in an era where data-hungry AI models and the companies that make them are looking to suck up valuable human-made content wherever they can.Seton, for his part, promised that SoundCloud would "keep showing up with transparency.""We're going to keep listening. And we're going to make sure you're informed and involved every step of the way," reads the letter. "Thanks for being a part of the SoundCloud community and for holding us accountable to the values we all share."More on SoundCloud and AI: SoundCloud Quietly Updated Their Terms to Let AI Feast on Artists' MusicShare This Article

TNW Backstage is going Double Dutch this week — in more ways than one. In the second episode of our new podcast, which goes behind the scenes of TNW Conference and the tech shaping our world, we’re joined by two special guests. Both of them are based in — you guessed it — the Netherlands. Together, they brew a distinctively orange blend of tech and humour, which has become a TNW trademark. One of them is content creator Derek Mitchell, the mind behind comedy brand Let’s Double Dutch. Mitchell’s viral videos exploring culture and identity in the Netherlands have earned global acclaim. His wildly popular sketches have now racked up over 250 million views. In TNW Backstage, we revisit his appearance at last year’s conference. During the talk, Mitchell reveals how he found his voice online — and how you can too.The 💜 of EU techThe latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol' founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It's free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now! Now, you may be wondering why a comedian was appearing at a tech conference. Well, there’s no one better to explain than this week’s second guest: Boris, the co-founder of TNW. Boris drops by TNW Towers to explain how humour fuels startup ideas — and lightens the load of tech work. He also looks back at memorable moments from TNW Conference. Among his favourites are a risky rib at Amazon’s CTO, wakeboarding through Amsterdam canals, and, um, cow poop bingo. (It’s another Dutch thing, apparently.) Our terrifically talented head of content, Oliviana Bailey, then gives a sneak peek at the fun and games at this year’s events. It’s a distinct break from the debut episode of the podcast, which explored the evolving data security landscape — and Meta’s controversial “pay or consent” model — with Ron de Jesus, the world’s first Field Chief Privacy Officer. But the contrast encapsulates the two sides of TNW Conference: serious business and festival vibes. You can check out both episodes of the podcast here. To celebrate its launch, we’re also offering an exclusive discount on tickets for TNW Conference, which takes place on June 19 and 20. You’ll find the offer hidden in each episode of TNW Backstage. Thanks for reading — and now, for listening too. Story by Thomas Macaulay Managing editor Thomas is the managing editor of TNW. He leads our coverage of European tech and oversees our talented team of writers. Away from work, he e (show all) Thomas is the managing editor of TNW. He leads our coverage of European tech and oversees our talented team of writers. Away from work, he enjoys playing chess (badly) and the guitar (even worse). Get the TNW newsletter Get the most important tech news in your inbox each week. Also tagged with

Sony told investors that it is considering to "pass on" the cost of the US tariffs imposed by the Trump administration to hardware prices—including the PlayStation 5 and affiliated devices—which is currently projected to be a 100 billion yen ($680 million) impact.As noted during the company‛s investors call around the fiscal report for the 12 months ended March 31, 2025, Sony CFO Lin Tao said that tariffs include the hardware business, which includes games and semiconductors. This is in reference to the 145 percent tariff imposed on China, where Sony manufactures the majority of its hardware, which includes TVs, cameras, microphones, and of course the PlayStation product line. "We‛re not just simply calculating the tariff to come up with 100 billion yen, but thinking about the currently available information and also looking at the market trend, we might pass on to the price and also shipment allocation, so we‛re taking different measures in managing to come up with the 100 billion figure," Tao said via a translator.As pointed out by senior vice president Sadahiko Hayakawa, the 100 billion figure may not be reflecting this week‛s reduction between China and the US. This is referencing an announcement on May 12 that led to a temporary US tariff reduction of 145 to 30 percent on Chinese imports, which will be in effect for 90 days.Related:In addition, president and CEO Hiroki Totoki answered a question regarding the possibility of moving hardware manufacturing to the US, saying that "these hardwares [sic] of course can be produced locally," and that "it would be an efficient strategy.""But PS5 are [sic] being manufactured in many areas, whether it's going to be manufactured in the US or not it needs to be considered going forward. We‛re not in such a critical situation," he added.Niko Partners analyst Daniel Ahmad recently noted to Game Developer in an interview that Sony has "some" PlayStation 5 console manufacturing in Japan, but that it's "limited." "That will take months to convert everything for US production," he added.He described Sony as being "one year behind" Switch 2 developer Nintendo in terms of diversifying its manufacturing capabilities, with the bulk of its production taking place in China. Nintendo—which is still grappling with the impact of the Trump administration-imposed tariffs—moved much of its US-focused manufacturing to Vietnam after 2019.Sony noted in its presentation that it is "diversifying" PlayStation 5 manufacturing hubs and stockpiling inventory in the US.Related:Throughout the fiscal year ended March 31, 2025, Sony shipped 18.5 million PS5 consoles, bringing the total to 77.7 million lifetime shipments since November 2020. This is down from last year‛s 20.8 million units. The company saw an increase in sales of non-first-party games, including add-on content, as well as sales from network services, resulting in a nine percent increase in the gaming sector. As noted in the previous quarterly fiscal report, first-party titles sales saw a decline.Despite a decline in sales, Sony has already increased the price of the PS5 in other marketsThe decline in PS5 sales traces back to Sony Q1 FY24's fiscal report back in August 2024, a period in which hardware sales totaled 2.4 million units compared to 3.3 million in Q1 FY23. In November 2024, a report stated that Sony is working on a standalone handheld device capable of running PS5 games on the move—as opposed to the PlayStation Portal, which relies on cloud streaming. The company didn't mention the reported console in its plans for the upcoming fiscal year.Meanwhile, the company raised the price of the PS5 in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, EMEA, and the UK in April of this year as a response to a "challenging economic environment," pointing out "high inflation" and "fluctuating exchange rates" in the announcement post. A few days later, Xbox announced an increase in consoles, accessories, and some upcoming first-party titles.Related:When Sony announced the decline in PS5 sales during Q1 FY24, it said that it was offset by first-party game sales. Now, it's third-party games that helped to tip the scale. After the company won't have a projected revenue from several cancelled live service games, it seems it will have to adapt.Upcoming first-party titles includes Bungie's Marathon and Sucker Punch Productions Ghost of Yōtei, in addition to a multiplayer game with live service elements from new first-party studio teamLFG, which was spun out of Bungie.

Ubisoft's FY24-25 financials report "solid balance sheet" despite hefty drops in revenue and back-catalog sales CEO says Ubisoft will "provide additional development time to some of our biggest productions in order to create the best conditions for success" Image credit: Ubisoft News by Vikki Blake Contributor Published on May 14, 2025 Ubisoft has released its financial results for the full 2024-25 fiscal year, reporting a "solid balance sheet" and "very strong praise" for Assassin's Creed Shadows - which delivered the second-highest Day One sales in franchise history after Valhalla - despite hefty drops in revenue, net bookings, digital net bookings, and back-catalog net bookings across the year. CEO Yves Guillemot confirmed Ubisoft would "provide additional development time to some of our biggest productions in order to create the best conditions for success" and notably missed FY2025-26 from his announcement that "FY2026-27 and FY2027-28 will see significant content coming from our largest brands." In FY2025-26, the firm "expects to maintain a consolidated net debt position of around zero." Ubisoft's headcount dropped by 1230 over the last 12 months. Here's what you need to know: The numbers: For the full 2024-25 financial year ending March 31, 2025 Revenue: €1899.2 million (down 17.5% year-on-year) Net bookings: €1846.4 million (down 20.5%) Digital net bookings: €1585.4 million (down 20.2%) Back-catalogue net bookings: €1296.3 million (down 13.5%) The highlights: Ubisoft said its brands have "continued to perform strongly this quarter," with the Top 10 brands posting year-over-year net bookings growth, leading to a record fourth quarter at €902m. Console and PC "activity metrics" are reported as "broadly stable" year-on-year. Despite an overall year-on-year drop, back-catalog net bookings for Q4 were "up double-digit," with noted performance from Ubisoft's other tentpole franchise, Rainbow Six Siege, with The Crew Motorfest also posting a strong performance. The company said it was continuing its strategic focus on open world adventures and native GaaS "experiences," resulting in "reshaping its operating model with the objective to better meet player needs, deliver superior game quality, and drive discipline capital allocation." This will see a new organization structure announced by the end of the year (it's not clear if Ubisoft is referring to calendar or financial year here). It also reaffirmed its commitment to its three "iconic IPs," Assassin's Creed, Rainbow Six, and Far Cry, hinting at a "very powerful five-year line-up to come" in partnership with Tencent. Assassin’s Creed and Rainbow Six brands’ unique active players both stood at around 30 million for the 4th consecutive year, with Far Cry at around 20 million per year over the same period. Other brands continued to "drive strong community appeal, with more than 100 million unique active players in FY2024-25." "The transaction with Tencent crystalizes the true economic value of three of Ubisoft’s leading franchises. The minority nature of the transaction enables Ubisoft to maintain control of these IP, retain financial consolidation as well as safeguard strategic alignment with the Group and maintain upside on these franchises while immediately strengthening its balance sheet," the company said. "It will be steered by a dedicated leadership, with a team that will include external hires, and that will be advised by industry veterans. With this transaction, Tencent will invest €1.16bn in a primary issuance by the New Subsidiary, acquiring an approximate 25% economic interest. At closing, at least €500m will be upstreamed to Ubisoft, ensuring sufficient working capital needs of the New Subsidiary at start." "This year has been a challenging one for Ubisoft, with mixed dynamics across our portfolio, amid intense industry competition. Despite these headwinds, Ubisoft managed to deliver positive free cash flow generation over the fiscal year, reflecting the discipline applied across the Group," said CEO Guillemot. "Aware of the challenges ahead, we took decisive steps to continue strengthening the company’s future [... and] we also completed our initial cost savings program ahead of schedule. We are committed to going further, with additional savings of at least €100m over the next two years to drive structural efficiencies and reinforce the foundations of our organization. "This continued focus on discipline will support our growth ambitions and the profound transformation of Ubisoft. We are currently working on reshaping the Group’s operating model and plan to announce a new organization by the end of the year," he added. "A major step in this transformation was the announcement in March of the creation of a new subsidiary, backed by Tencent as a core strategic partner. "Additionally, after a review of our pipeline, we have decided to provide additional development time to some of our biggest productions in order to create the best conditions for success. As a consequence, FY2026-27 and FY2027-28 will see significant content coming from our largest brands," Guillemot concluded. "Ubisoft is entering a new chapter, and I am confident in our ability to build a stronger, more resilient company for the benefit of all our stakeholders.”

AI company Schemata has come out of stealth and announced $5 million in seed funding to accelerate the development of its training platform. The company’s 3D reality capture, spatial AI, and contextual information can help the defense and enterprise sectors more rapidly and cost-effectively create photorealistic and interactive training programs. The new platform is already being piloted by the Department of Defense. Schemata’s technology converts 2D images into photorealistic 3D environments using 3D reality capture. It then uses spatial AI to apply contextual information to those assets, as well as an AI Instructor so that users can engage with the 3D simulations through voice or text. The result is personalized AI-enabled training assistance that can be created 10 times faster and up to 85% more cost-effectively than traditional content creation means, the company said. The startup’s origins trace back to Stanford University, where founders James Brown and Huy Nguyen first developed the concept for an AI-driven simulation platform leveraging Brown’s insights on military training and simulation and Nguyen’s expertise in 3D graphics and computer vision​. The pair brought on former congressional staffer and co-founder Quin Roberts, and left Stanford last June to build Schemata. “By harnessing the latest advances in generative AI’s reasoning capabilities, we can more effectively parse complex 3D data—and, in turn, gain deeper insights into real-world environments,” said Brown, Schemata CEO, i an statement. “In the Marine Corps, everything I did was centered around large-scale physical operations on complex terrain and equipment. At Stanford, we saw how AI was transforming knowledge work, and we wanted to bring those same advancements to those who work out in the physical world”. 3D reality capture is the process of using technologies like laser scanners, drones, and photogrammetry to digitally reconstruct physical spaces in 3D​. The result is a highly accurate virtual model of a real environment. Spatial AI refers to AI systems that can understand and interact within these spaces – in other words, machines navigating the environments with human-like perception​. By combining these two technologies, Schemata can quickly generate a lifelike virtual replica of any location and embed an intelligent virtual instructor to guide users through it. Within these digital environments, the AI Instructor can dynamically interact with end-users: answering questions, highlighting objects, and adapting scenarios in real time. For example, an operator using a device loaded with Schemata’s models can ask a question out loud and receive instant guidance. Training modules that once took specialists months to build can now be generated in hours​ directly from a company’s existing training materials. “Our AI Instructor is like having a dedicated expert by your side 24/7 in a physical environment,” said Quin Roberts, Schemata’s COO, in a statement. “It can instantly analyze a 3D scene, point out safety hazards or operational steps, and respond to the user’s voice or text queries in real-time. This level of interactive, on-demand instruction simply isn’t available with conventional tools.” The timing of Schemata’s innovation aligns with a surging demand for virtual training across defense and industry. In the defense sector, the U.S. military already invests over $12 billion per year in simulation-based training​. Yet, these investments have primarily focused on high-end systems for pilots and specialized units. Schemata’s platform aims to broaden that reach. The platform is already being piloted in sectors like defense, energy, and infrastructure, where training often involves complex environments and high stakes. Demand is strong, with Schemata already being awarded $3.4 million in Department of Defense (DoD) contracts over the past eight months. Schemata’s oversubscribed funding round includes investments from prominent venture capital firms, led by Owl Ventures, with participation from a16z speedrun, Alumni Ventures, Anorak Ventures, and Time Zero Capital. Last summer, Schemata was selected for the third cohort of a16z’s speedrun startup program, with an acceptance rate of less than 1%. “We see a future where spatially-aware AI agents operate with a full context of the physical world—just like frontier language models now operate across digital systems,” said Nguyen, Schemata CTO, in a statement. “That’s why we’re connecting AI to rich 3D environments with embedded semantic data. Virtual training is just the beginning of what it can unlock”. GB Daily Stay in the know! Get the latest news in your inbox daily Read our Privacy Policy Thanks for subscribing. Check out more VB newsletters here. An error occured.